Spartan Families,
On November 14th, the Bixby Board of Education adopted a final academic calendar for the 2020-2021 school year. The calendar is linked HERE for your review and has also been posted to the District website.
Last spring, a committee of nearly two dozen administrators, teachers, and parents was tasked with developing this new instructional calendar. The committee was asked to consider and comply with the following items:
- District instructional goals
- State laws and regulations regarding length of a school day and year
- Teacher and principal preparation
- District professional development plan
- Holidays and traditional vacation patterns
- Financial impact
- Board of Education policies
- Administrative procedural directives
- Negotiated agreements between Bixby Public Schools and its teachers
The final calendar reflects the consensus of the committee after a thorough analysis of several proposed options.
You will likely notice the early start date (August 13) for next year's school year. This is partly due to an interest in providing a full week off for the Thanksgiving break and avoiding a two-day week prior to the holiday. The committee also sought to balance the number of instructional days between first and second semesters to promote consistency of instruction for semester-long classes at the secondary level.
The committee also recommended the addition of three extra professional development (PD) days to the annual calendar for next year. These PD days (Sep 4, Oct 19, and Feb 12) were scheduled adjacent to existing breaks or holidays to minimize potential disruption to families.
These days were built in to allow additional, more comprehensive training for teachers and support staff. Research clearly shows that having a high quality, well-trained educator in every classroom is the most significant school-based factor in improving student success. Our district is committed in developing a teaching cadre which is second to none.
With one-to-one Chromebook programs at our secondary schools and the expanded use of technology at all grade levels, the need to provide up-to-date training for our classroom teachers is critical for success of these initiatives. Extra training time will also be used to enhance our staff's knowledge and experience in addressing the social and emotional needs of our students, as well as developing instructional strategies to amplify student engagement, critical thinking, creativity, and problem solving.
The early dismissal dates remain in effect for next year and will begin on August 21. The final day of school for students is May 19, 2021. The adopted calendar still allows for up to four days for weather or other emergency cancellations without modifying the original calendar dates.
Sincerely,
Rob Miller, Superintendent